The regular season is ended. Now cometh upon us the time of the playoff.

Not coincidentally, the time of playoff prediction is here.

Before each and every playoff round, we will ask the writers of the Nation Network to submit their picks for our playoff preview. We will also open up the contest to every commenter who wishes to enter, so long as their picks are in before puck drop on Wednesday. To enter, simply write the winner of each series and how many games it will take them to win.

Scoring:

Best series prediction record (length excluded)

Tie-breaker one: Most accurate prediction in the Stanley Cup finals (winner and length)

Tie-breaker two: Highest number of correct predictions (both series and length)

Writer

VAN/CHI

SJ/LA

DET/PHX

ANA/NSH

WAS/NYR

PHI/BUF

BOS/MTL

PIT/TB

Davie

VAN, 6

S.J., 5

DET, 6

NSH, 7

NYR, 7

PHI, 6

BOS, 7

T.B., 6

Drance

VAN, 6

S.J., 4

DET, 5

NSH, 7

WAS, 7

BUF, 6

MTL, 6

PIT, 5

Gregor

VAN,6

S.J., 5

PHX, 6

ANA, 7

WAS, 6

PHI, 6

BOS, 6

T.B., 7

Lansky

VAN, 7

S.J., 4

PHX, 6

ANA, 7

NYR, 7

PHI, 5

BOS, 6

PIT, 7

Lowetide

VAN, 6

S.J., 6

DET, 7

NSH, 7

WAS, 6

PHI, 6

BOS, 5

T.B., 6

Steinberg

VAN, 5

S.J., 6

DET, 5

ANA, 6

WAS, 5

PHI, 7

BOS, 6

PIT, 7

Wanye

CHI, 7

S.J., 6

DET, 6

ANA, 6

WAS, 7

PHI, 6

BOS, 7

T.B., 7

Willis

VAN, 6

S.J., 5

DET, 6

NSH, 5

WAS, 5

PHI, 6

BOS, 7

T.B., 7

Wilson

VAN, 7

S.J., 5

DET, 7

NSH, 7

WAS, 4

PHI, 6

MTL, 7

PIT, 6

Consensus

VAN, 8-1

S.J., 9-0

DET, 7-2

NSH, 5-4

WAS, 7-2

PHI, 8-1

BOS, 7-2

T.B., 5-4

If you don't recognize all the names, they are:

Cam Davie and Thomas Drance of Canucks Army

Baron Wanye Von Gretz IV, Creator of the Nations

Jason Gregor, Lowetide and Jonathan Willis of Oilers Nation

Pat Steinberg and Kent Wilson of Flames Nation

Steve Lansky of Leafs Nation

Other writers will be added above here once they e-mail me their picks or post them in the comments below. I'll also be tracking all reader predictions and posting updates at the end of each round. The first round of the contest closes Wednesday at puck drop.

Jonathan Willis is a freelance writer.
He currently works for Oilers Nation, Sportsnet, the Edmonton Journal and Bleacher Report.
He's co-written three books and worked for myriad websites, including Grantland, ESPN, The Score, and Hockey Prospectus. He was previously the founder and managing editor of Copper & Blue.